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THE OTHER SIDE OF MIKE

In 47 letters, friends tell a judge there's a Michael McLaughlin few know

By Lisa Redmond, lredmond@lowellsun.com

Updated:
06/23/2013 10:44:49 AM EDT

LATEST CONTROVERSY: Michael McLaughlin, center, ex-director of the Chelsea Housing Authority, walks with his lawyer Thomas Hoopes, left, as they leave U.S. District Court in Boston in February. McLaughlin, of Dracut, pleaded guilty to four federal counts of falsely reporting his salary.

BOSTON - Michael McLaughlin's critics have labeled him as a hustler who has always been able to sidestep accusations of abusing power and blurring ethical lines during his 40year political career.

But even as the 67-yearold Dracut resident faces a new label - convicted felon - in a federal false-document case, dozens of supporters have written letters to a federal judge asking for leniency and praising McLaughlin for his years of public service, his business savvy, and his dedication to friends and family.

In February, McLaughlin pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to four counts of falsifying documents to hide his grossly inflated salary from state and federal officials from 2008 to 2011.

McLaughin admitted to falsely reporting his annual salary as director of the Chelsea Housing Authority as $160,415 in 2011, when his total compensation was at least $324,896.

The government is recommending a 12- to 18-month prison sentence. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock postponed McLaughlin's sentencing to July 19 after requesting more information about McLaughlin possibly obstructing justice, allegedly asking others destroy documents, and whether McLaughlin's actions could be considered fraud.

Depending on the information provided, the judge could increase the sentence.

In a 141-page sentencing memorandum, Boston defense attorney Thomas Hoopes included 47 letters of support to try to sway the judge into a more lenient sentence.

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The defense is seeking probation so McLaughlin can care for his ailing wife, Donna, who suffers from frontal-lobe dementia, which acts like a rapidly moving Alzheimer's disease. A number of nurses and home-health aides who are helping with her care wrote letters about McLaughlin's dedication to his wife.

Some of the letters were written by McLaughlin's family, begging for mercy for their father, uncle and mentor.

Excerpt from a letter written by Linda Trouville, a former Dracut teacher and current principal of the St. Louis School in Lowell, in support of Michael McLaughlin, her longtime friend

But many of the letters come from unexpected sources, such as a former Dracut selectman, a retired Billerica police chief and a retired state representative, all of whom praised McLaughlin's good deeds and good will over the years.

In his two-page letter, former Dracut selectman Frank Gorman, a local developer, writes that during his three decades of knowing McLaughlin, it was his friend's "knowledge and integrity" that led to McLaughlin's election and appointment to various public posts over the past five decades.

Through McLaughlin's career as state representative, as Middlesex County commissioner, his stint as Methuen city manager, and as leader of housing authorities in Somerville, Lowell and Chelsea, Gorman writes that McLaughlin has made many "tough and unpopular decisions.

Excerpt from a letter written in support of Michael McLaughlin by Kenneth Martin, director of the Methuen and Ayer housing authorities, and former chairman of the Dracut Housing Authority

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Gorman writes that much of the criticism was because McLaughlin "always did what he believed was right and what was in the public's best interest."

As a public-housing manager in Somerville, Lowell and finally as the Chelsea Housing Authority chief, McLaughlin has made the apartments "safer and cleaner for the residents," Gorman wrote.

Some tenants of the Chelsea Housing Authority would differ with that assessment.

The Chelsea Citywide Tenants Association has filed a motion for more than $500,000 in restitution, alleging that while McLaughlin padded his salary by more than $500,000 that came out of the CHA's budget, low-income and older tenants lived in rat-infested apartments.

Still, McLaughlin's supporters write about the gentler side of their friend.

Some of the many complimentary adjectives used by Michael McLaughlin s supporters in the 47 letters submitted on his behalf to U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock.

In her letter to the judge, Linda Trouville, a former Dracut teacher and current principal of the St. Louis School in Lowell, wrote that the "scathing articles" written about McLaughlin, her longtime friend, don't reveal the goodness of a man who has found jobs for people, helped families and brightened someone's day with his humor. Barbara Clement wrote that when her husband, a plumber for the LHA, became sick with adrenal cancer in 1987, McLaughlin, then LHA chief, donated his sick time so he would continue to be paid while out of work. Her husband died 12 weeks later, but Clement wrote that for the past 27 years she has never forgotten what McLaughlin did for her husband and her family.

John J. McLaughlin III, McLaugh-lin's nephew, wrote that when his family life was in turmoil, his "Uncle Mike" took the younger McLaughlin under his wing and provided "a stable, caring and nurturing role model." His uncle's top priorities have always been family and friends, he wrote.

Rose Sergi, who teaches communications at Middlesex Community College, writes that she has known McLaughlin since the second grade in Billerica, but it wasn't until high school that she got to know "the real Mike." In his senior year of high school, McLaughlin ran for class president and Sergi helped him in his first foray into politics. McLaughlin had a concern for his constituents even back then, she wrote.

Boyhood friend William McNulty Jr., now a retired Billerica police captain, wrote that McLaughlin has always been a "loyal local public servant." He writes that McLaughlin has been a proponent for employees, the elderly, education and recreation, public safety and the environment. Retired Billerica Police Chief Paul Matthews admits he has limited knowledge of McLaughlin's case, but describes his lifelong friend as someone who worked hard for the best interests of Billerica. Matthews credits McLaughlin for helping to get one of the first hockey rinks in the area, and as a Middlesex county commissioner leading the reform of the county system. Matthews also credits McLaughlin with modernizing the town's trash collection and solid-waste disposal at a time when Billerica was still using an open landfill that would later become a Superfund site.

Former state Rep. Michael Rea describes his longtime friend as having exceptional administrative skills, bringing improvement in each community he has served. Rea says McLaughlin urged him to get into public service, instead of just complaining about problems. While Rea was a state representative and McLaughlin was a county commissioner, McLaughlin helped with the creation of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park across from the Middlesex House of Correction in Billerica.

Michael Callery, a retired jail deputy superintendent, writes that as a corrections officer, he sat on the opposite side of the bargaining table from McLaughlin as they hammered out a union contract. Callery wrote that McLaughlin was one of the few people back then who recognized corrections officers as professionals and not merely "guards." He writes that McLaughlin was instrumental in moving the job out of the "dark ages" by calling them corrections officers.

Former Somerville Housing Authority member Vincent Ciampa writes that McLaughlin takes responsibility for his actions. "He has expressed regret for his failed judgment and is ready to face the consequences of his actions," Ciampa wrote.

Kenneth Martin, who heads the Methuen and Ayer housing authorities and until recently chaired the Dracut Housing Authority, credits McLaughlin with revamping the financially struggling LHA to a place where it received awards. Throughout the years, Martin writes, he and McLaughlin collaborated on a number of federal and state housing issues.

McLaughlin earned a reputation of being able to "manage troubled agencies and improve their status," Martin writes.

Angela Ramos, a former Lowell Housing Authority employee, would agree.

Ramos writes that in the late 1970s into the 1980s, drug trafficking was a problem on LHA properties. Under McLaughlin's leadership, she writes, the LHA was the first in the U.S. to win a public housing grant to work with the Lowell Police Department's Drug Task Force to combat drug trafficking.

"Beyond his effectiveness in fighting drugs in our developments, saving a bankrupt project for elderly and disabled, and winning a national award," Arlene McDermott writes, "it was his fairness and kindness that impressed me the most."

McDermott, a former LHA employee, says McLaughlin gave up 50 days of sick time to an employee with heart disease, without praise or fanfare. And his respect for women "trumped" anything LHA employees had seen before, she writes.

McDermott writes that the days of "cheating on tenant selection, patronage and nepotism ended" at the LHA ended when McLaughlin because the director.

Dennis "D.J." Deeb II, a former Dracut School Committee member, writes that he relied on McLaughlin's expertise as the school business administrator for Dracut schools. McLaughlin discovered that the town had underfunded its state obligation to the school district by millions of dollars, allowing the schools to tackle overcrowding problems, Deeb writes.

Retired Billerica Police Capt. Emile Steele sums up his feelings about McLaughlin this way: "I would trust him with my life."

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